But this year has NOT been nice to nightshades. I’m hearing tell of plentiful blossoms and scarce fruit. Or puny plants and no fruit. Or fruit that won’t see red. My chiropracter’s plants are producing tomato tonnage from tree-sized specimens in plastic tubs that his Nebraska relatives brought him, already planted and ready to zoom upward. I suspect those tubs kept the soil warm in our cool spring and maybe gave them a head start, or maybe it’s just Dr. Guy’s squeaky-clean healer karma. My own tomatoes are either of the puny-plant or almost-no-fruit variety. Fellow blogger Kitt brought me in some fruits from the Stupice plant I gave her; they’re small, but yummy. Firm, sweet, not too watery, delectably tangy. So it’s not the variety’s fault.

Anyway, to console, or congratulate, as the case may be, all you tomato growers out there, I’m giving a prize away to the best tomato tale — bonus points for pictures — emailed to me at sclotfelter@denverpost.com by Friday, Aug. 15. The criteria are simple: verse or prose or recipe or all three; send pix if you got ‘em; and oh, my pals from work and my personal life aren’t eligible (sorry, buds). Yes, it’s a cheesy ploy to bring you blog-lurkers out in the open. I’ll publish the best on Digging In. And the criteria are completely subjective. If Features Editor Dana Coffield or foodies Kris Browning or Tucker Shaw come into some garden goodies they want to donate to the cause, there could be additional prizes.

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The prize, so far, is a copy of Tim Stark’s “Heirloom: Tales from an Accidental Tomato Farmer.” Stark’s account of his transformation from NYC consultant to market gardener and supplier to top-flight chefs is raucous and rollicking and infused with tomatoes (and chiles and elderflowers and wine, oh my.) If you thought YOU had overplanted tomatoes, Tim’s story will comfort and amuse you. If tomatoes vine and burgeon through your waking and sleeping dreams, you’re SO not alone.

But wait: for those of you who ARE getting fruit (and I am pausing to hate you now) there’s an even bigger prize out there: $2,500. That’s a LOT of tomatoes, kids, and all you’ve got to do is bring them to the Longmont King Soopers on Saturday, Aug. 23, for the NatureSweet Best Homegrown Tomato Challenge. Details and registration stuff here, but the important detail bears repeating: The grand prize is $2,500! And there’ll be two of those big fat checks, in both the full-size and small-tomato categories. Two runners-up in each category will win $250 grocery certificates, and even that ain’t mulch money. Got no fruit at all? There’s a sweepstakes that lets you try for some green without even getting your hands dirty.

Your favorite garden blogger is one of the three judges, and … from the way my plants are looking, it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll be tired of tomatoes any time soon.

I have grown tomatos for over thirty years and have grown every variety. I always love the cherry tomatos where the children can just pluck the tomatoes off of the plant and savour the succulent taste of real tomatoes. Recently, my eldest son returned home from college and ate one of my tomatos. His reaction was so rewarding. His eyes grew big and he exclaimed “Where did these come from?” He had been away long enough to appreciate real, tasty tomatos!

This year I decided to wander with my tomatos. I found a community in Centennial where many of the residents are elderly, and some are handicapped. I brought soil, tomato plants, pots and trellis’s and left them for some to attempt to grow their own. I watched with great pride as they took the task upon themselves and have struggled throughout the summer to water. Now some are enjoying the fruits of their labors!
I’ve joined forces with their first volunteer plant representative. We found an area in the complex that is just an unused piece of asphalt. No basketball hoop and it isn”t wanted. I could see the potential and we discussed establishing the first communal garden with subdivided plots for the residents to share. We are excited about it but lack the funds to tear out the area and replace it with good soil and a fence.
This is a community where the residents care for each other but need some help. What a triumph that would be, if these residents could supplement their fixed incomes and come to love tomatos as I do! They are ready and I am ready to assist them! We may have in the future some great tomato gardeners from Centennial! Can anyone help?

Cathy Evans

“Notes From A Wandering Tomato Farmer’

I have grown tomatos for over thirty years and have grown every variety. I always love the cherry tomatos where the children can just pluck the tomatoes off of the plant and savour the succulent taste of real tomatoes. Recently, my eldest son returned home from college and ate one of my tomatos. His reaction was so rewarding. His eyes grew big and he exclaimed “Where did these come from?” He had been away long enough to appreciate real, tasty tomatos!

This year I decided to wander with my tomatos. I found a community in Centennial where many of the residents are elderly, and some are handicapped. I brought soil, tomato plants, pots and trellis’s and left them for some to attempt to grow their own. I watched with great pride as they took the task upon themselves and have struggled throughout the summer to water. Now some are enjoying the fruits of their labors!
I’ve joined forces with their first volunteer plant representative. We found an area in the complex that is just an unused piece of asphalt. No basketball hoop and it isn”t wanted. I could see the potential and we discussed establishing the first communal garden with subdivided plots for the residents to share. We are excited about it but lack the funds to tear out the area and replace it with good soil and a fence.
This is a community where the residents care for each other but need some help. What a triumph that would be, if these residents could supplement their fixed incomes and come to love tomatos as I do! They are ready and I am ready to assist them! We may have in the future some great tomato gardeners from Centennial! Can anyone help?

BugBabe

Just a quick note on tomatoes: they don’t set fruit at temps above 87 degrees. Sooooo all this heat means lots of vine not much fruit. Don’t worry tomato lovers, they’ll come on now that the weather has broken. And oh, yeah, if you want the green ones to ripen, try withholding water…that always encourages the plant to fear that the end is near, gotta ripen the fruit, gotta get those kids (seeds, that is) outta the nest.

BugBabe

Just a quick note on tomatoes: they don’t set fruit at temps above 87 degrees. Sooooo all this heat means lots of vine not much fruit. Don’t worry tomato lovers, they’ll come on now that the weather has broken. And oh, yeah, if you want the green ones to ripen, try withholding water…that always encourages the plant to fear that the end is near, gotta ripen the fruit, gotta get those kids (seeds, that is) outta the nest.

Becky Hensley is the co-founder of Share Denver - a community craft space in Park Hill. She's also the proud Ninja-in Chief of the Denver Craft Ninjas -- a women’s crafting collective dedicated to keeping the DIY spirit alive through laughter, shared skills, and cocktails.

Colorado native Mark Montano is an international designer, artist, author and television personality. He has appeared on TLC’s “While You Were Out” and “10 Years Younger,” as well as “My Celebrity Home” on the Style Network, “She’s Moving In” on We TV, “The Tony Danza Show” on ABC, and “My Home 2.0” on Fox.